A Drone Named Jeffrey
by LeaderPinhead
Summary: I am Jeffrey. The Vehicon. I did this thing a little while ago. I met a girl, left the 'Cons, and drove off into the sunset. Now what the heck am I supposed to do? [Sequel to Drone]
1. Chores

**AN:** Welcome back to Drone! Since last year's February themed challenge went so well, I decided that I wanted to do another for this February. And Drone won the vote over on dA :D Because I already have an "official" sequel to Drone in the works, this interlude of sorts will be used to connect the first story and the subsequent sequel I'll publish sometime in the near future (hopefully). So, some of the chapters may seem kind of random, but it all serves a purpose in the end :3

Now for the "rules" this go around: like last year, each chapter will be titled and based around the themes from a chosen list (which can be found on my profile), and all the themes that will be used have been chosen randomly via a number generator. Unlike in Drone, the word limit won't be 200 words or less. Instead, I'm going to be aiming for around 1000 words or less, but some chapters may still be drabble length. I wanted to keep some kind of element of challenge to this ;P

So, hopefully you guys enjoy this month of A Drone Named Jeffery :D

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter 1

Chores

* * *

My name is Jeffrey.

I am a Vehicon.

I also enjoy long rides down barren stretches of road, 12 o'clock soaps, and the air-fresheners that are labeled "Vanilla." Seriously, of all the air-fresheners my human has forced upon me, vanilla has by far been the least disgusting. I still don't get the point of it, but whatever.

I said all of that just to say this: I'm not a "manual labor" kind of mech. Sure, once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past of R-49S-7, I threw myself into raging battles with little pause, but that's totally different. Luxury might not have been a word in my vocabulary back in my 'Con days, but I certainly hadn't been coded to be a miner.

So, I laughed in response to Riley's demand. I laughed so hard that my visor started to glitch a bit. Once my frame had heated one whole unit above normal, I ended with a harsh vent. "I'm starting to get why the Autobots like you squishies so much. You're pretty funny when you want to be."

Riley glared up at me. It was funny how she was still so tiny even when I crouched down to half my height. Funny _and_ tiny. I was starting to learn that by human standards that would make Riley "cute" or something.

"I'm not joking." I tilted my head and received a pointed gesture in the direction of the tiny shelter we stood in front of. "Dad says you can't stay at the garage anymore because he needs the space to fix other broken cars, which you aren't anymore. But before you get to move in here, dad said I had to clean out the garage for you to stay in. And I'm not doing all of that by myself."

"This is a garage?" I ducked my head to get a better look inside. My plating clamped down when I saw the thick layer of dust on the front row of boxes and the wispy strands of web in the high corners of the back wall. "It's so _tiny_."

"It's the average size for a garage."

"But…but the other one is a lot bigger."

Maybe later I'll look back on this memory and be ashamed of how high-pitched and whiny my voice became. Right now, all I see is dust, webs, and this little creature scuttling across the ground in front of me. I should blow a tire and go back to the other, better, _cleaner_ garage across town. Besides, my noon soaps should be starting soon.

…what have I become?

"That's a garage—as in a _repair shop._ This is a garage…garage."

I stared inside for a moment longer before standing up. "Nope."

"Come on, Jeffrey!" I shook my head and crossed my arms when Riley began pushing on my leg. "Get back down here before our senile neighbors see you. The last thing we need is one of them having an aneurysm or something."

I looked over the "high," wooden fence that enclosed the backyard, spotting some slobbery creature rolling around the yard on one side and a large enclosure of water on the other. I thought humans preferred to clean themselves inside? "What's an aneurysm?"

"It's—nevermind! If you want a place to sleep, you'll start helping clean this garage out."

"I don't sleep."

"You don't…then what are you doing when I come into the garage and you don't respond?"

"Recharging."

"Like a phone?"

"Yes." I glanced down at my human. "What's a phone?"

Riley shook her head. "Stop trying to distract me! We're cleaning this garage, and that's it."

"Nope. I wanna go back to the other."

"You don't have that choice."

"Don't care—already made my choice."

"You can't make another choice when there isn't one offered!"

I crouched down and used a digit to gently poke Riley. "Gently" still caused her to fall onto her posterior, but that was better than flattening her against the ground...which I may or may not have done in the past. "I think you're about to have aneurysm."

Riley snarled between her teeth and swatted at my finger. She jumped up, mouth wide open and face turning redder, when she suddenly stopped and stared up at me. I stared back, arms balancing on the top of my knee joints, and we silently stared at each other.

She made the first move, reaching into her pocket to pull out a small ring of keys. Of the two, she wielded the one that she pretended to use when riding inside of me. "I hear you like your freshly waxed, green paint, Jeffrey."

My armor, having relaxed after our little back and forth, clamped back down again. "Put that key away, Riley."

"Be a real _shame_ if anything happened to it."

I was _this_ close to squishing my human. I like my paint-job—it's become one of my best features. That's why I keep it nice and clean with that fancy soap and make my alarm go off whenever a human with dirty hands attempted to touch me. I was going to make sure this paint-job lasted longer than the last one!

And yes, I am aware that I'm channeling my inner Knock Out.

Fortunately, it didn't come to that. Riley's face scrunched up in an ugly expression that didn't work for her, and she dropped her keys with a glare. "Fine, you win. I spent too much time making you look good just to mess it up. You better be happy that I care about my work."

My engine began to purr as I watched Riley grab the first box and drag it out. I folded down into my alternative form and rolled back and forth on my wheels in victory, choosing to ignore the object Riley threw at me. Maybe living with a human wouldn't be that bad after all.

"Are you going to get the dust too?"

"Nope."

"But…the dust!"

"Don't care—already made my choice."

"…I hate you."


	2. Boredom

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Two

Boredom

* * *

"This is boring."

"Uh huh."

"Let's go do something else. Like shoot at stuff. Or wash me…or both."

"As fun as that sounds, I'm gonna have to say no."

I released a harsh vent, glaring at the red dust that floated around my frame. Now, before you draw the wrong conclusions, I actually like the desert. Mainly because it was one of the few places I could roam around in my bipedal form, but also because it was isolated from the humans. Me and Riley had already found the best places out here to avoid even the traffic on the highway.

What I didn't like was just sitting. Doing absolutely nothing but staring at the expanse of sand and rock before us. I had never embraced the whole "relaxing" thing on account of it being just so _boring_. But this was worse. Why? Because Riley had to do this for _two hours_. For a stupid school project.

I'm starting to hate that place. Not only have I been forced to sit outside of it almost forty hours a week (because they locked my only means of escape when school started; I'd knock that gate down if I wasn't worried of being seen), but now it was haunting me after hours too. How could parents be cruel enough to send their kids to that place?

"Are we done yet?"

"I've only got three animals and one plant." Riley scooted closer to my frame in order to stay in my shadow as the sun slowly traveled across the sky. She flipped through the little paper-pad she had been writing in. "It says that I have to 'observe and document a total of four fauna and one flora located around your home.'"

"Your—we could've stayed home for this?"

"Yes." My engine growled when Riley patted the side of my hip armor. "But then you wouldn't have been able to get out and get your exercise."

"But then we could have gone out to the ridge and hurled rocks down at the cars that passed on the highway!"

"We can do that after this. See? I was only ever looking out for _you_, Jeff."

My engine rumbled louder, and I turned away to glare at the barren landscape surrounding us. I took a moment to calm myself before turning back and pointing down at the rocks sitting a human's arm length away. "Get that thing there then. I don't see it in your notes."

I wasn't expecting the shrill cry that came from Riley. I think I actually jumped a little because of it, but I didn't really have time to notice because of the little human scrambling up my leg. I stared as Riley huddled up against me. "How long has that thing been sitting there?"

"Since we sat down."

"And you knew!"

I tilted my head. Was that a question? Because it sounded like she already knew the answer. "Yeah."

Riley then proceeded to punch and kick me anywhere she could reach. I just stared, trying not to laugh when she finally stopped with a hiss of pain and rubbed her red knuckles. "Okay. You done now?"

"You don't even know what that is, do you?"

"Another lizard." I peered down at the thing, which seemed to have moved in response to Riley's dramatics. "Without legs. And a little thingy on its tail."

"That's a rattlesnake, Jeffrey. A _rattlesnake_."

"Does that make it a fancy lizard?"

"If that thing bites me, I could die!"

Riley yelped and clung to my armor when my frame jolted. "Seriously? You can die from being bit by something smaller than you? And without legs?"

"I can die by being bit or stung by things with legs too." Riley nearly jumped into my hand when I picked her up and drew her away from the snake that began to slither out from beneath the rock, its tail emitting a little rattling noise. "Some of the stuff out here is venomous, and we're a pretty long way from the nearest hospital."

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier? I wouldn't have been keeping a record of how many times you almost stepped on a legless lizard!"

We stared down at the rattlesnake as it slowly slithered to another formation of rocks, pausing along the way to eyeball a little rodent Riley had cooed about earlier. Riley peeked out from behind my fingers and relaxed back onto my chest. "Well…I guess it makes the last hour and a half a _little_ less boring knowing that I was sitting that close to a venomous snake."

"A little."

We sat in silence. "Jeffrey?"

"Hmm?"

"When we get home, I'm giving you a list of things to not let me sit beside out here."

"Okay…does that include the tiny things with the pincers you've almost sat on?"


	3. Reality

**AN: **Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far!

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Three

Reality

* * *

"So, there I was, minding my own business and patiently waiting for you like I always do. Then suddenly, this big—_huge_!—guy comes busting out of the school. He's got one arm filled with the stuff he stole and the other waving around a gun as big as he was. He dives into the car idling next to me and takes off out of the parking without even pausing to notice that he's dinged the front of me.

"Naturally, I take off after the perpetrator. I swerve in and out of traffic like a boss—_eeeehh, eeeehh_! He notices I'm following him, and he leans out of the car and just starts blasting me. _Pew pew_!_ Pew pew_! I ducked this way, and I ducked that way, but even I—in all my greatness—could not escape the few bullets that grazed my sides.

"He finally noticed he was no match for me and tried to lose me by veering off onto a side road. One that would have taken him out of the county in no time. I knew I couldn't let that happen—having previously watched those crime shows—so I kicked myself into high gear and practically flew down that dirt road. That must have been where all those dings on my hood came from; the rocks were just flinging everywhere at the speed I was going!

"By the time I finally started hearing the police sirens in the distance, I was already pulling up beside this hooligan. I ordered him to stop, but he tried to shoot out my tires. So, I did the only thing I could—I transformed and knocked a good one into his hood. Crushed that thing like…like a can!

"You should have seen him! I've heard the phrase multiple times now, but I've never actually seen a human wet themselves from fear. He instantly jumped out of the car and fell to the ground begging me not to hurt him. Of course, I roughed him up a bit—had to teach him a little lesson about going up against Vehicons.

"By the time the cops finally arrived, I had the guy swearing he would right his criminal ways, and he willingly submitted to law enforcement while I was being profusely thanked. They even let me break the speed limit so I would be back just in time for your club thingy to end.

"And that's the entire story."

I set my elbows on the top of my knees and balanced my helm in my hands as I patiently waited for Riley's reaction. She stared back up at me from the beneath the brim of her hat, her face surprisingly blank while she wielded the buffer in her hands. The only sound to break our silence came from beyond the familiar room we were in—mechanics hard at work to fix the cars they were entrusted with, and the occasional shout or burst of laughter among them.

Riley finally lowered the buffer and propped one hand on her hip, her brown eyes narrowing to mere slits. "Alright, what really happened?"

I emitted a burst of static and placed a hand over my spark. "What do you mean what really happened? Do you think I'm _lying_?"

"I don't think—I know."

"Prove it."

I resisted the urge to snicker when Riley flinched, her eyes widening and mouth falling open. "Are you serious?"

"Yep."

"Fine." I will never admit to shrinking in on myself when Riley put the buffer down and stepped closer, a finger dangerously lifted my way. Nope—that never happened. "One: if someone had stolen from the school, every student still in that building would have been front and center taking pictures on their phone to post on whatever website they obsess over. Two: who's gonna waste their time robbing a high school when there's a bank literally right across the street? Are our third place basketball trophies really that valuable? Three: you never transform in public. Like ever. You either have to be in a completely enclosed room like this or it takes you a whole hour to make sure there's nobody else around. And four—"

"Do you really need a four?"

"_And four_." I ducked my head to avoid Riley's glare. "I'm not nearly as good as my dad when it comes to assessing damages, but none of the scratches I see on you look anything like a near miss from a bullet. So, what really happened?"

I keep my head down and muttered the answer. "_Jeffrey_."

"It was the squirrels!" Riley jumped back as I launched into the air. Well, as much as I could "launch" in a room that didn't even allow to stand at my full height. "Those stupid squirrels you park me under every time you stay after school. They just attacked me with their little claws and projectile nuts!"

"What about the dent in your front bumper?"

"…I may have nudged their tree a bit…and made one of them fall. But that was all justified revenge!"

"What's all this yelling about in here?"

I swiftly transformed into vehicular mode just as the side door swung open. Riley smiled at her dad as he ambled over to us. "Oh, you know me, dad. Always talking to the cars."

He grunted and rubbed his thumb against one of the many scratches along my hood. "What did you do to him? Sic a hoard of squirrels on him?"

Fortunately, he was too busy worrying over Riley's sudden fit of maniacal laughter to notice me slumping down onto my tires.


	4. Flag

**AN:** This one was hard to figure out what to do for! I could have gone a more silly way like previous chapters, but I _do_ want to have some more serious moments in this flick. Thanks again for all the reviews from last chapter! :D

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Four

Flag

* * *

For the past month, I've really been able to priorities straight. It's amazing how not having to worry about dying every nano-klik would free up your mind to do that. So, in that time I've been able to figure out who I really was: what I like, what I don't like, what I want, how I feel about things, and a whole bunch of other important stuff.

"No! Rodrigo, how could you choose Selena over her twin? She's not the one having your baby!"

Like how I liked to watch what Riley calls "mind-melting, poorly scripted teenage angst for adults." I like to call them by their proper name: Spanish soap operas. And they are addictive.

Much to Riley's disgust.

"Jeffrey!" I barely turned my head, optics still trained on the television I was watching through the window of her house. I heard my human huff and a clatter of metal followed. She must have kicked over another box. "Are you going to help at all?"

"Just a klik."

"You said that five minutes ago!"

I wave my hand towards Riley while leaning closer to the open window. "Shh! Rodrigo's about to propose to the wrong girl."

"Oh, no. And then her sister will run in and see it all!"

I gasped as just that happened and turned to glare at Riley. "Way to spoil it for me, you…spoiler!"

"Jeffrey, my dad's been watching those things since I was _born_. I know every plot twist, couple, and set of siblings that will ever appear in one of those. Now help me go through these boxes before my dad has another silent fit."

A static filled huff escaped me (I was picking up way to many habits from Riley), and I finally turned away from the TV to poke at a box. They were the same ones that Riley had pulled out of the garage when I first moved in, and they had been sitting outside beside it ever since then. From what I had heard last night from my cozy abode, Riley's dad had finally gone full parent and told her she couldn't do _anything_ until the boxes had been cleared out.

I thought it was a little harsh to order your kid to do that by herself, but apparently half the hoard was Riley's junk anyway. Which was why she could take one look at a box and immediately send it to the trash pile without a second glance. So, I guess the manual labor wasn't _that_ bad.

"Trash." I picked up the box she pointed at and tossed it over the fence to sit in the alley behind the house. Riley poked her head into another box and pointed at it next. "This one too."

"Can't we just toss it all over?" I waited until she pointed out another destined for the trash pile. "You're throwing most of it away anyway."

"Some stuff in here is important. Trash."

I tossed the next one and poked inside a box without a lid. "What's so important about paper and cloth? Especially _old_ paper and cloth."

"Don't touch that!"

I snatched my arm at the screech. Riley abandoned the box she had been looking through and snatched up the faded blue cloth with white five-pointed symbols. She smoothed out the little indent my poking had created and carefully put it back among the black and white pictures of a solemn male human. "What's the big deal?"

Riley ignored me and shuffled things around in the box, pulling out some of the paper to stare at before placing it back. She snatched up the lid that was sitting next to the container and snapped it back on. "It was my grandpa's."

"Grandpa?"

"My mom's dad." I silently tilted my head, and Riley sighed. "I really don't wanna explain human families right now, Jeffrey."

My head tilted to the other side, watching the slump in my human's shoulders and how she was rubbing her eyes a lot now. "Was he important?"

"We were really close before..." I leaned back a little at the weird snort Riley made. "He used to tell me all about his time as a marine. Mom hated it. I thought she threw all this way when she left."

"Why did she leave?"

Riley suddenly shook herself. She did one more weird snort and reached up to adjust her cap. I automatically bent forward when I saw that her eyes had turned red and glassy looking. "Put that on the porch, Jeff."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just put that on the porch so we can get the rest of this done."

I sat still for a moment before shrugging and picking up the box. Riley had her back to me while I carefully placed it beside the door of the house. After doing that, I glanced through the window and gasped. "Rodrigo is dead!"

"The mailman did it."

"Nuh uh!"

"Yeah _huh_."

"Nuh _uh._ It was Selena's side lover, Fredrick. Get your soap plots straight Riley."

My spark lightened a bit at the laugh that came from Riley.


	5. Ice Cream

**AN: **Because I love writing a clueless Jeffrey ;D

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Five

Ice Cream

* * *

"This is ice cream."

I stared at the small container Riley wielded before me. "Okay?"

"It has magical properties and makes everything that is crap become better."

"Really?"

Riley flopped down in the chair beside me, holding her container of ice cream close while aiming the remote controller at the television in the house. "Not really. But it has enough sugar to make me think it's true."

"So, it's like your chocolate?"

"Yep…but chocolate is better."

I sat hunched up with my back leaning against the door of the garage and my arms wrapped around my legs as Riley flipped through the channels. "Are we doing another sappy movie marathon like last month?"

"Why do you accept my dad's soaps but not my sappy movies? You got something against my movies, Jeffrey? _Huh_?"

I lifted my hands to protect my sensitive plating from Riley's burning glare. "No! I just…don't find them as interesting."

I didn't even have time to react as the remote came flying towards my helm. It bounced off the side of my face plate and landed beside Riley's chair. The human glared, curling her arms protectively around her container of ice cream. "I hate you."

I stared. "Is this another human thing you don't want to talk about?"

"Yes."

Riley glared, and I shrugged, turning back to watch the movie she had found before losing her mind. "Fine."

"Don't get snarky with me."

"I'm not!" Riley gave me another glare before huffing and spearing her ice cream with a spoon. "Are we going to put Kool-Aid in the neighbor's pool again to make you feel better?"

"Heck yeah!"


	6. Snow

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Six

Snow

* * *

"Are you sure you're not supposed to be school right now?"

"Of course!" Riley stuck her hand out of the window, letting the wind catch it as we sped down the empty highway. "Me and dad unanimously agreed that today was an official, unofficial snow day."

My engine roared as I let my speed gradually climb above the dreaded city speed limit of forty-five. It felt so good! "What's that?"

"An excuse to not go to school or work."

I swerved to the other side of the road as we came up to an old truck chugging along. It was nothing but a blur when we passed, and we left it in our dust. "I'm not complaining or anything, but why are we taking a snow day? Your dad is usually kicking you out of the house to make sure you go to school."

"It's just not a good day, Jeff." Riley pulled her hand back in and slouched in the seat, dragging her cap forward to cover her eyes. "Wake me up when we get to the Lookout."

"Whatever."

**~VI~**

The Lookout—as Riley and I had taken to calling it—was for all intents and purposes a very lackluster destination. It had sand like the rest of the desert; and rocks; and tiny, killer organic creatures. It was just a big rock that we could sit on and watch the occasional car pass by on the highway below, but it was still a favorite place to go to just be away from everyone else.

There were also little craters from where I had taken to shooting lizards or anything else that moved, but I had to do something that kept me in practice even if it meant I had to go searching for more Energon crystals earlier than usual.

I rolled up the path we had created from our frequent visits and paused where I had left Riley to scope out the area for unwanted company. I transformed and squatted down beside where she was setting up a circle of cardboard boxes. "So, we're using boring stationary targets today. How _fun_."

"Yep." Riley dropped some of the smaller rocks into a box to weigh it down. I shifted when she completely ignored my dreaded "snark." "Can you use that fancy blaster to completely incinerate it?"

I bent down to get a closer look at the boxes. "Sure. What's on the boxes?"

"Nothing."

Riley walked towards the edge of the Lookout, but I bent down even further, my chest scrapping against the ground, just to a good look at the pictures taped to the sides of the boxes. "I thought you valued these picture papers."

"Stop gawking at them and shoot!"

I stood up and looked down at Riley. Her brown eyes glared back up at me, but they somehow lacked the usual hardness that her glares possessed. I glanced back at the boxes, examining the similar pictures of a smiling female human on each of them, before I gave Riley a half-shrug.  
"Whatever."

Riley didn't smile like she usually did when the "targets" were reduced to a black mark on the sand. And that somehow took the actual fun out of it for me too.


	7. Mother

**AN:** Sorry for the delay today! FF wasn't working earlier, and I only now had the chance to upload today's chapter.

Also, this chapter directly follows the last :)

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Seven

Mother

* * *

"Did you have a family?"

I paused scratching symbols into the ground and looked over at Riley. She sat hunched by my side, knees pulled to her chest and eyes on the road below us. I shrugged and kept scratching. "No."

"No one?"

I paused again. "No."

We sat in silence. I finally vented and moved to mimic her position. "Vehicons don't really have families like you humans do."

"Why not?"

"Because." I glanced down and found Riley staring back up at me with interest. I vented again. "Life with the Decepticons wasn't really the…nicest thing. Remember when I told you that Vehicons were considered just mindless drones?"

I waited until she gave me a hesitant nod. "Well, a lot of us really thought that. We never really had any reason to get close to one another when we never knew who was going to walk away from the next battle. Some Vehicons never even lasted longer than the first day they were forged. I guess some of the older Vehicons may have formed a tighter group than anyone else, but even they never really felt anything when they found out that the guy they had shared Energon with for so long wasn't there anymore."

I vented harshly, and Riley jumped at the loud noise. "It didn't help that everyone in command treated us like we were expendable morons. They couldn't even tell the miners apart from the soldiers half the time! And being told from creation that you're nothing but cannon fodder can shape a mech's mind real quick. You focus more on whether the next battle will be your last instead of figuring out who to cuddle up next too when you experience a bad memory flux when you recharge."

The wind whipped up the top layer of sand surrounding us, and I glared at the granules of dirt that stuck to my armor. My scratches from earlier were already being covered again. I don't even remember what I had been drawing.

"My mom left us today." I turned my attention away from the dirt to Riley. She had moved closer to me without my realizing it. "Well, not today _today_, but on this day a few years ago. She didn't leave a note or anything—just up and left."

Riley pursed her lips as another gust of hot wind rushed around us. She turned towards where she had set up the boxes earlier, and I turned to look at the remnant smudges with her. "You ever hear from her?"

"No."

"You want to?"

"No."

We turned back to watch the road below, and I decided not to comment on the waver I had heard in her voice.


	8. Numbers

**AN:** Sorry for the delay again! Some real life stuff had to get taken care of today.

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Eight

Numbers

* * *

"Jeffrey!"

I continued poking at the tiny object in my hand as the back door swung open with a bang. I delicately twisted the top of the object, and then twisted it in the middle. I paused and twisted the top back to the position it had been in.

"Jeffrey!" Another shout failed to divert my attention, and I didn't even flinch when something clattered to the garage's floor beside me. "Jeffrey, you better have a good…what is that?"

I pinched the multi-colored cube between two fingers and presented it to Riley. "I don't know, but I found it one of those boxes you put back in here. I've been trying to figure out how to match all the colors on the sides. It's actually kinda addictive."

Riley stepped closer and watched me twist the cube in every direction I could. "I can't believe I have a giant, transforming robot living in my garage and he's spending all of his time watching soap operas and playing with Rubik's Cubes."

Two layers of matching colors fell into place. "Ah ha! You will not beat me colorful cube!"

Riley stared long enough for me to scramble the colors again in my effort to win before she picked up the small sheet of metal she had thrown at me. "Jeffrey, why did I find this in the bushes out front?"

I stopped long enough to stare at the object she wielded and shrugged. "Maybe the neighbors did it. They're still upset at you."

"About the Kool-Aid?"

"No, the people on the other side. The ones I terrorized their dog for lubricating my back tire."

A small smile flickered across Riley's face, but then she forced it back into the stern expression she had been using. She waved the metal plate. "This is your license plate, and I know it! And before you tell me to prove it, I've seen this plate thrown around the yard enough to know it's yours."

I shifted around until I was no longer facing the insulting piece of scrap. "I'm not putting it back on."

"You have to, Jeffrey!"

I twisted the cube to match up another two layers of colors. Now, to figure out how to get the third… "No."

"But Jeffrey—"

"I said no!" I glared down at the little human and almost felt bad when she took a step back. "Do you know how terrible it is to have some random numbers plastered to your aft? Not only is it insulting, but it's totally unflattering in my root mode."

I hunched over my cube and cursed as the colors mixed again. Riley was quiet, and I made it a point not to look down at her. A few tense moments dragged by until Riley left my personal space, and I waited until I heard the backdoor gently click shut before tossing the cube aside.

* * *

A few days later, I heard the door slam open again. I didn't pay much attention to it as I laid out in the garage, cursing the current human entertainment device I had found. "Jeffrey!"

I waved my hand towards the half open garage door. "I'm not here!"

"Jeffrey!" I vented as Riley wiggled under the gap and walked around my legs. "I have something…where did you get that?"

I gestured the little device towards the wall the boxes were lined up against. "The same box with the Rubik's Cube. You humans sure do like making pointless things, don't you?"

"It's called a Game Boy, and it wasn't useless when I was five!" I rumbled my engine and used the tips of my fingers to gently press the button to make my little character jump onscreen. "I don't know what to be more amazed about though: the fact that thing works, or that you're actually pretty good at the game."

"How 'bout both?" I finally looked up when my character died and tilted my helm at the grin Riley possessed and the fact that her hands were hidden behind her back. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Riley poked her lips out in what I had discovered was her "innocent pout." I was not swayed. "Well, nothing _bad_."

I turned back to my game. "I'm disappointed in you."

One day, Riley will learn that smacking me hurts her hand a lot more than it does me. "Ow. Whatever. I got you a gift!"

I immediately turned back to Riley, letting my character die again. "What?"

"A gift." At my blank stare, Riley pulled one of her hands from behind her back to wave. "You know, something that one person gives to another because they like each other? A gift!"

I stared for a while longer before poking at the Game Boy again. "Never heard of it."

"You know, Jeff? Sometimes I just feel sorry for you."

"Me too."

Another smack bounced off my arm plating. "Quit that! Anyway, here's your gift."

Riley pulled her other hand from behind her back, and I glared at the metal sheet she presented to me. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

I didn't realize I had punched the floor until Riley jumped, her eyes widening as she took a step back. "I told you I didn't want—"

"But look at this one!"

I paused my tirade when Riley waved the plate in my face. I took a good look at it once I realized the usual numbers were missing. I pinched the corner between two of my fingers and brought it closer for examination. Riley stood still as she waited for my verdict.

I gave it back to her. "Now _this_ I wouldn't mind having on my aft."

A grin broke out across Riley's face. "It's better than a bunch of dumb ol' numbers."

I stared at the human letters that spelled out "BAD AFT01." "A little obvious, but better none the less."

"No more numbers for you, Jeff."

Riley held the license plate back with an intense stare, and I nodded. "No more numbers for me."


	9. Farm

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Nine

Farm

* * *

Have you ever had a dirty little secret? One that was so…_dirty_ that you could never imagine it being revealed without some horrifying consequence that would forever shape the rest of your life and the way people looked at you?

I shamelessly possessed one of those, and the horrified squeak Riley emitted that day after school didn't change that…much. "What. Is. _That_?"

My vision was a little limited while in my vehicular form, but I could still see the horrified expression on my human's face as she stared at the screen of the GPS-thingy that came with this form. "What's what?"

"_That_." Riley pointed at the screen. "That…_horrible_ thing there."

"It's called a GPS, Ry. Have you already forgotten that?" My engine roared to life, and I peeled out of the parking lot, attempting to avoid the long line of bad drivers I would have to suffer through if I didn't leave now. "I'm starting to think this school thing is more detrimental to your intellect than helping it."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." I slammed on the brakes as an idiot squealed past me in some dingy sports car. I hate these human younglings…especially when they're in these prissy cars. "What was that on the screen before you turned it off?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, don't play coy with me, you fragger."

I gave a dramatic gasp, barely noticing the slagger that attempted to nudge my bumper…okay, I _did_ notice it, but I'm trying to turn over a new, non-'Con thinking tree. That meant I couldn't throw myself into reverse and smash in the idiot's front. It would only put a tiny dent in my bumper… "Your first Cybertronian curse! I'm so proud of you, my little human."

"You weirdo." I wiggled my steering wheel when Riley tried to slap it. Now that I think about, Riley might not be very willing to fix that tiny dent if I slammed into the guy behind us. "And stop trying to change the subject!"

"What subject?"

My wheels squealed against the asphalt as Riley put her foot down on the gas pedal while I simultaneously worked the brakes. "No, Riley! You know I hate it when you do that!"

"And you know I'm too tired to deal with sass after school!" Someone honked their horn behind us, and I rumbled my engine in restrained annoyance. Gotta remember I'm trying to stay off the radar; if a video of me stomping on another car goes viral, there's no way I'll be able to stay hidden from Decepticons _or_ Autobots. And military humans, I guess; Riley seems worried about those. "Were you or were you not just playing Farmville on your GPS?"

"You know what? I'm not ashamed of how I spend my time while you're in school…I was also playing Angry Birds and Candy Crush. And occasionally I co-op on Call of Duty. I'm the guy that camps a lot."

"You're dead to me."

"I love you too, Ry."


	10. Ireland

**AN:** This one was so hard to think of something D: But thank you everyone who has been reviewing! I'm hoping to be able to start replying directly to you guys once I get through all the university stuff I have to do this week :D

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Ten

Ireland

* * *

In the short period of time I've been living with my human and her father, I have discovered something that I never expected…well, there's a lot of things I've discovered that I didn't expect, but this solely concerns my human.

She's a squealer.

Like, seriously—she has a squeal for every occasion. There's the "That's so adorable!" squeal; the "Don't let that thing touch me!" squeal; and one of my favorites, the "I'm so angry at you!" squeal and growl combo. I don't think I really started to notice it either until after about three orbital cycles, but when I did, it certainly became a fun pastime to tease her about it.

However, I have never heard her squeal loud enough to be heard from the inside of the house. Especially right before she had to leave for school; she was like death warmed over this early morning. Definitely, not awake enough to be so loud.

There was another squeal—a combination of the "I'm so angry" and a "What the frag are you doing?"—and Riley came storming out the backdoor with a nasty snarl. She didn't even have her cap in hand as she yanked open my driver's door and fell into the seat. "Get me out of here."

I started up just as Riley's dad ambled out onto the back porch. He chuckled when Riley snarled in his direction. "Have a good day, sweetheart."

Riley rolled down my window while we rolled past the porch. "I hate you!"

Her dad simply laughed. "You shoulda worn some green!"

Riley fell back into the seat with a huff, and I pulled out onto the road in silence. She huffed one too many times, and she squealed when I focused a burst of air through my vent at her. "Alright, what's gotten your human hormones in a tizzy?"

"Did you just say tizzy?"

"Yes…is that wrong?"

Riley leaned back in the seat. "Not…really? It just sounds weird coming from you."

"Then I'll say it more often. Now what have you been squealing about?"

I rolled through a stop sign while Riley slouched deeper into the seat. "My dad is a jerk."

"Uh huh."

"He pinched me." Riley sat back up and pretended to drive when a car passed. "All because I'm not wearing any stupid green."

"What does that have to do with being pinched?"

"It's St. Patrick's Day."

We were silent. "How dare he?"

"You don't know what that is, do you?"

"Nope."

Riley leaned forward and rested her chin against the top of the steering wheel, allowing her body to lean in the direction I turned. "It's just some dumb holiday that you get pinched on if you don't wear green."

"Why don't you wear it?"

"Because I protest against any holiday that doesn't get me out of school."

"That's kinda petty."

"I don't care. Where's my hat?"

"You didn't come out with one."

Riley cursed the rest of the trip to the school, and she cursed even more when I used the seatbelt to give her a little pinch on the way out. A new squeal has made the list: the "Curse and Squeal."


	11. Tropical

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Eleven

Tropical

* * *

"One day, we're going to the beach."

"What's a beach?"

"Like a desert only with water."

"Why do you wanna go to it if it's like the desert? The desert sucks."

"It's not Jeffrey."

"But you just said it was!"

"That's so you would have an easier time picturing it! It's not like the desert at all."

"Then don't make false comparisons. In fact, don't compare at all because you suck at it."

"Oh, bite me, Jeffrey."

"I can't; I don't have teeth."

"It's a _saying_. Not a literal thing."

"Why would humans have a saying like that? That's just terrible and totally asking to be bitten. No pun intended."

"That wasn't a pun."

"That's what she said."

Riley's straight face suddenly crumbled, and she leaned against the side of my leg in a fit of laughter. My engine hummed, but I remained stoically staring at the organic Seekers that circled above us. "That was fun. Let's do it again."

"'Kay. One day, we're going to the Artic."

"What's an Arctic?"


	12. Hug

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twelve

Hug

* * *

Riley has never hung out with the humans her age. I don't know why, but when her classmates are huddling around their cars laughing at each other, Riley is climbing inside me and wanting to go out to the Lookout. The only other human interaction I've seen her doing—not counting with her dad—is with the less creepy guys her dad works with.

So, I was r_eally_ confused when I saw Riley walking across the parking lot with a human male her age. I'm guessing he was a male at least; he was dressed more like Riley did, and she had told me that she dressed more like the males of her species. But she had also told me the females had longer hair like her too. Like the guy she was giggling with.

That's another thing—she was _giggling_. Riley didn't giggle; she laughed, chuckled, or guffawed. Heck, she freaking snorts when she gets really going. Giggling is something she did not do.

A whistle was the first thing I heard from this supposed male, and I instantly disliked him. Especially when he laid his hand on my hood. "So, this is the fabled 'Jeffrey.'"

"Yep."

I had to resist the urge to "accidentally" roll over the guy's foot as he continued to pet me. Seriously—_pet me_. And Riley just stood there grinning! "He ride smooth?"

"Real smooth."

"Care to give me a lift?"

No.

"Sure!"

You traitor.

Riley skipped—_skipped_! What is wrong with my human today?—around to my other side and acted like she was unlocking my door. She climbed in and leaned close to the steering while pressing the button that would "unlock" the other door. "Be nice, Jeffrey."

My response was locking the door again when this male attempted to climb in. "_Jeffrey_!"

We went back and forth playing with the lock until her new "friend" stopped laughing. Riley growled and jumped back out of the car when he walked around to talk to her. "Hey, if you didn't wanna share you just had to say so."

"It's not that—"

"Naw, it's cool."

He reached out and grabbed Riley by the elbow. He immediately jumped back when my engine loudly roared. "Whoa! You didn't tell me it was one of those cars that start up by itself. That's so cool!"

Riley released a stilted laugh and banged a fist on the top of my roof. "Yeah, cool. Except it's a bit glitchy; I might have to disable that feature."

Yeah, right. You might be a good medic, but you can't take away my free will!

"Maybe we could work on it together after school sometime?"

And you're not touching me again, male squishy.

"That would be awesome!"

No, it wouldn't. Is my human sick or something? I've heard they act weird when they're sick. That's gotta be it.

"I'll see you later."

My engine growled again, but it didn't distract the human male this time. He grabbed Riley and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her. Her face turned a bright red. Brighter than any other time I had seen her change colors.

Riley glared when my alarm went off, but I didn't care. It got long haired squishy to let her go, and that's all that mattered.


	13. Animal

**AN:** Sorry for such a super late update! I promise to get back on my earlier posting schedule starting tomorrow :)

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Thirteen

Animal

* * *

It all started with a faint pattering on the roof.

Now, I've grown used to certain sounds during the night. I don't react when the mutt next door starts baying at anything that breathes; I barely pay attention to the old humans that bathe in the pool on the other side; and when the car down the street backfires, I no longer think that I'm under attack.

But this somehow jerks me straight out of recharge, which is a very disgruntling thing. I don't recharge very often because honestly if I stay well fueled I don't need to recharge every single night, so when I get brought back online in such a rude and sudden way, I don't like it. It makes me very grumpy.

I sat in my vehicular mode, listening to the soft sounds as they crossed the tin roof. It definitely wasn't the sound of rain, which—as rare as it may have been at times—I had learned to identify. Neither was it some branch falling from the tree above the garage because surprisingly I've learned to identify that sound too.

What I heard was only concentrated in one area and stopped and started at random intervals. I listened to it for a while—just trying to figure out what I was hearing—until I finally transformed. I pushed the door of the garage opened and checked the area around me before stepping out.

Slobber mutt immediately started barking, but it backed down the moment it heard my blaster hissing to life. With a satisfied nod at the sight of the mutt retreating to its tiny house with its tail between its legs, I turned my attention back to the roof for what had disturbed my night. It took me a moment to find it huddled up in the corner because its dark coloring made it hard to find in the lack of light (and I wasn't about to waste my energy with switching to night vision).

I stared at the little animal, and it stared back with eyes that glowed when the light caught them. I must have stared at it for too long because the weird armor animals seem to all possess fluffed up along its back and tail, and a low snarl emitted from it. I tilted my head to the side. "Get off my roof."

It hissed and swatted at me when I attempted to poke it. I pulled back and angled my finger in the light of the porch light, staring at the series of shallow scratches that had been left behind. "That didn't hurt."

It didn't care for my words and swatted again. I kept poking at it, finding my annoyance from earlier fading into amusement as it became a game to see if the animal was fast enough to actually scratch me. After a while, it grew tired of the game and turned away. I leaned forward as it picked something up in its jaw and stalked across the roof towards the tree, keeping a close eye on me as it went. "Is that a squirrel?"

It growled at me and jumped onto the nearest branch, the dead squirrel's tail dragging along between its front legs. I watched it carefully descend the tree, finding a surprising amount of awe at its fluid movements. Once it reached the ground, it took one final look at me before heading towards the fence that divided our yard with Sir Mutts-a-lot.

Curiosity got the best of me as I listened to the dog begin its yapping before abruptly cutting off with a pitiful whine. I chuckled and returned to my garage.


	14. Fall

**AN: **Soooooo...my attempt to post before noon today kind of failed ^^; I'll try harder tomorrow. And thank you for everyone who has been reading, reviewing, and all that jazz! :D

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Fourteen

Fall

* * *

Human school is weird. I don't get it at all, and I've been forced to think about it for seven and a half hours, five days a week, for four months now. What's the point of making your kids sit inside a building doing absolutely nothing? And then forcing them to spend five hours every day afterwards doing _more_ pointless work?

Like seriously, Riley showed me some of the "math" she had to do, and it was completely useless. Who cares if you can calculate the volume of a water jug? When the water reaches the top, you don't put any more in!

Common sense: a concept the humans apparently lack in some areas.

Anyway, I was just starting to get used to the annoying alarms they used to signal the kids to go to a different class when I heard the alarm go off at a time it shouldn't. I paused the game I was playing and was surprised to see the kids flooding the parking lot. I checked the time and wondered what the heck was going on because it had only been three hours since I dropped Riley off.

Not that I was about to complain when Riley practically flew through the door but that didn't lessen my confusion. "What's going on?"

"Before I answer, play the song I asked you to find while I was in class."

If I had shoulders at the moment, I would have shrugged. Instead, I turned into the dreaded after school pile up and pulled up the music clip I had downloaded. Riley nudged a button to signal to roll down the windows and began banging her head to the first chords of the song.

I slowly inched forward, watching others stare as we inched along. Some even mimicked Riley or shouted along with the lyrics. "What are you doing?"

Riley stopped her horrible rendition of the music. "What?"

"I said—"

"What?"

I rolled the window up and turned the music down. "What are doing?"

"I'm celebrating!"

"Celebrating what?"

Riley stared at my stereo. "Dude, we're free!"

"Free of what?"

"School!" Riley tuned the nob that controlled the volume just as the singer belted out a repetitive line. "School's out for summer!"

"Is it like one of those holidays? The ones you do support."

"Heck yeah. Except it's a _super_ long holiday." Riley leaned back in the seat with a grin. "An entire two months long. We don't have to come back to this hellhole until the fall."

"Watch your language, young lady." I peeled out of the parking the moment I could, beginning to feel the excitement that Riley exuded. Two whole months of not sitting in a parking being pelted by nuts by a herd of psychotic squirrels and seriously contemplating my life choices? Now that sounds like something I could stand behind. "We only use Cybertronian curses here."

"Kiss my aft, fragger. I'm free!"

"That's my girl."


	15. Tree

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Fifteen

Tree

* * *

I stared at the mini-television with an intensity that was somewhat over-exaggerated. That didn't matter though because Riley stared in the same way, her hand methodically reaching into the bowl of popcorn she insisted on having. The girl on the screen slowly walked through the darkened house, the music in the background picking up and amplifying the anticipation.

"Why did she go back into the house with the chainsaw man?"

I snickered when Riley groaned and relaxed against the side of my leg. The chainsaw killer popped out of a room, making the female shriek and run for her life, but the mood had been effectively broken by my question.

"Jeffrey, do you not get the point of scary movie night?" Riley glared up at me and shoved another handful of popcorn in her mouth. "We're supposed to get the crap scared out of us—not question the movie's flaws in logic!"

"But this is boring!" Riley huffed and turned back to the movie. "It's not even scary. It's just…gore."

"Are you telling me that you wouldn't be even a _little_ freaked out to have a guy chasing you around with a chainsaw?"

"No." I watched the unfolding of the inevitable death scene as the female finally tripped. "Is the person with the chainsaw a medic?"

"Would that make a difference?"

"…no."

I have never been happier for a quick distraction as I was when I saw Riley smirk up at me. The loud bang against the tin roof of the garage caused her to jump with a tiny shriek. I tilted my head and watched the popcorn go flying across the room. "You're picking that up."

"What was that?"

"Don't try to divert the subject."

Riley ignored me and jumped up from the floor. She pushed the door of the garage up with a grunt and slid under the small gap. I vented and followed her out. I glanced down the driveway to see that Riley's dad was still out doing "Man Night" with his friends before I crouched in front of the garage and watched while Riley attempted to find an angle to see the top of the roof. "You're short."

"Oh, shut up! We can't all be towering robots." My armor fluffed up a little in pride while Riley rushed towards me and patted a hand. "Give me a boost."

"Why?"

"There's something on the roof!"

"So?"

"Just get me up there!"

"What if I don't want you looking at my roof?"

Riley finally focused on me instead of the garage. "Seriously? You're getting possessive over a roof now?"

"It's my roof!"

Riley put her hands on her hips to glare at me. "Jeffrey, what are you hiding?"

"What? Hiding? What makes you think I'm hiding anything?"

"_Jeffrey_."

"You're not my parent Riley!" I crossed my arms over my chassis. "That tone won't work on me."

"Fine."

I watched Riley move towards the side of the garage. I peeked around the corner to see what she was doing and jerked forward when I saw her climbing on top of the unstable trash receptacle kept there. "What are you doing?"

The container began to wobble the moment Riley was on top of it, and my hand automatically moved to catch her fall. Riley found her balance though and slowly began to stand up. "If you won't help me, then I'll just do it my way."

"Are you crazy?"

"Yes." I vented when Riley smiled at me. "It's a dominant gene passed through my family."

"I hate it when you try to talk Biology."

"I know—that's why I do it."

I vented again, and Riley squealed when I snatched her from the trashcan. "Fine! The last thing I need is for you to crack your little head on the ground."

"Aww! I didn't know you care so much."

"Of course I do. Where else would I get the free labor to wax me?"

Riley smacked the palm of my hand with a grin before she peered over my fingers to see the roof. A small limb had fallen from the tree beside the garage, and a dark mass of furry creature crouched beside it, licking its jaw while its paw rested on a pile of feathers.

I hunched my shoulders as Riley stared at the animal. "Is that a cat?"

"That's what it's called?" The animal turned its head towards us and released a low growl as greeting. It didn't flinch when I reached out to poke it, lazily swatting at my finger. "I've just been calling it fur ball."

"You've been calling it fur ball?"

I hesitated and used the moment to poke at the cat again. This time it hissed and left a new set of scratches on my finger. "Yeah."

"How long has it been here?"

"Since before school ended."

"That was a whole month ago! Why didn't you tell me about it?"

I looked away at the sound in Riley's voice. I'd never seen her frown that way before either. "Because I thought you'd run it away."

"Why would I do that?"

I poked at the cat again, and it began to pick up its dinner and stalk towards the tree. Clearly, it was done with me for the night. "Because I ran your boy away."

It took Riley a moment to respond, and when she did, it was in a way I hadn't expected. She began laughing. "You were worried because of _that_? Jeffrey, he was a total loser. All he wanted was to be seen in a nice car. You actually did me a favor."

My tense frame suddenly relaxed, and I felt more enjoyment by poking at the cat as it attempted to find a limb to jump onto. "I knew from the very start the guy was a jerk."

Riley hummed. "Uh huh. I'm actually surprised you'd get upset over the thought of me chasing a cat away."

"Who else would eat the psychotic squirrels and deranged birds that try to dump their waste on me?"


	16. Rainbow

**AN: **I didn't realize that I had used this prompt in the original Drone until I had use it today :O

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Sixteen

Rainbow

* * *

"Have you ever thought about trying a different color?"

My engine hummed at the abrupt question. Riley barely looked up from the car she had been tasked to replace the radiator. From across her dad's garage came a cacophony of laughter as the other medics took their breaks, and none of them paid any attention to Riley. Most had grown used to the young medic, and the few creeps that tried to come too close had learned that strange things happened when her vehicle was in the immediate area.

While I wasn't necessarily comfortable with seeming like more than an ordinary car when others were close by, I decided that the men weren't close enough to notice anything and rolled my window down to answer her. "No, not really."

"Are you sure?" Riley straightened and reached for the hand towel hanging from the car's hood. She began wiping oil from her fingers, paying closer attention to her stained hands than usual. "I mean, I can change it if you want me too. Maybe a bright red or a dark blue."

"It's fine the way it is." I paused before subtly rolling closer. I stopped the moment I thought one of the guys was looking in our direction. "Are you getting bored with my optic-searing green?"

"Of course not!" Riley picked at the grime under her nails. "I was just…thinking."

"Oooh. Be careful there—you remember the last migraine you got from thinking."

The kick to my front tire was expected. "Shut up!"

"What? I'm just being concerned."

Riley clicked her tongue—something she had apparently started doing to replace her "I'm annoyed with you" squeal. "I'm being serious right now!"

"So am I."

She stuck her tongue out at me before flinging her dirty towel towards me. I would have jerked back and avoided the towel landing on my hood had there been no witnesses to notice. Which Riley knew, and that was why she had done it. "_Riley_."

"_Jeffrey._" My engine softly growled at the smile Riley gave me. "That's what you get for turning my concern into a joke."

"Concern? Over my paint? Why?"

Riley's smile fell, and she began to chew on her bottom lip. "I was thinking…"

"About changing my color?"

"No." She paused. "Yes. Sorta. I was just thinking about the fact that I never really gave you any choice about it because, well, I thought you were just an ordinary car then."

I took a moment before answering. "So you were thinking about giving me a choice now?"

"Yeah." Riley reached up to adjust her cap, another nervous tick I had learned to pick up on. "I mean, it's a little long overdue, but if you wanted to choose another color, I would do it for you."

I couldn't help but feel something unfamiliar swell inside me. Even after six months of living with this human, the thought of actually having a choice in what I do now was still a new concept I was trying to grasp. Sometimes I even forgot that it was possible and went along with whatever Riley wanted me to do, albeit the terrible idea of going mud bogging after a rare rain was a lot different than being forced to sacrifice yourself for a cause that had long lost its initial drive.

Sometimes I thought it was a little sad that I felt freer with little aliens than with my own kind.

"I like my color." Riley relaxed a little and smiled at my admission. "It's grown on me…and I don't want to go through the experience of you peeling it off again."

"Understood." I rumbled my engine when Riley lightly patted my hood. "But if you ever feel like changing it, let me know. Or if you want to change anything else I did without permission."

"_Well_, since we're on the subject, I would love for you to take that bumper sticker that was conveniently put on at an angle I can't reach while I was recharging off my aft."

"Not a chance. Your aft saying 'I Stop for Squirrels' is just too funny."


	17. Computer

**AN: **I totally cheated with this prompt because my original idea for it didn't pan out the way I had hoped (that's also why it's only getting posted half an hour before midnight today) ^^;

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Seventeen

Computer

* * *

"Al…most…there!"

The tip of my finger grazed the Energon crystal wedged in the rocks above me. Gravity immediately decided to remind me of its existence, and the rock beneath my foot gave away. I grunted and grappled to catch my balance.

Luck wasn't on my side, and I slipped on the rock and fell nearly fifty feet to land on my back. The collision was jarring enough to temporarily scramble my auditory and visual sensors, and I waited until my vision had fully rebooted. With a growl, I blindly reached out and grabbed a rock to hurl up at the crystal mocking me from above with its soft glow. "You're not the only crystal in the mine, you fragger."

Either my visor hadn't completely reset or that crystal just glowed a little brighter. Or I was finally losing my processor…that sounded like a more plausible explanation. Either way, it was still mocking me in its crystal-y way.

My joints creaked in protest, and I stood up and rubbed the back of my helm where a rock had dented it. "Alright Riley. Let's head to another section of the mine. One where Energon crystals are less mocking."

Silence greeted my statement, and I looked around the open space. "Riley?"

I tensed when I didn't receive an answer and began cursing my human to the pit and back while heading to the tunnel we had come in from. I knew it! I knew bringing Riley on my bi-monthly Energon raid was a stupid idea. But what did I do? I let those big ol' brown eyes soften my spark.

_"But Jeffrey, I promise to be good! I won't run off unless you're climbing up a slippery wall and fully distracted. Just look into my big, puppy eyes, you sentimental moron! You can trust me."_

Those weren't her exact words, but I'd like to imagine that's pretty much how it happened. And I—the sentimental, processor damaged Vehicon—fell for it. I need to reestablish my dominance in this relationship when this over.

"Jeffrey!"

I jumped before freezing mid-step. I transformed and peeled down the straight tunnel when the cry repeated, and for the first time since I started raiding these old caverns, I didn't care for the noise I made. I was going to squish my human for running away!

I screeched around the corner and transformed into a head-on roll, arm already transformed into my cannon and pointed in front of me. Riley shrieked as she was swung around, and the purple Vehicon that held her used his other arm to aim a similar cannon towards me. He paused and took a step back. "What are you doing here? I'm the only one assigned to this sector."

I didn't answer, optics fastened on Riley as she struggled in the Vehicon's hand. He didn't seem to care (or notice really), and I tensed when he swung her around. "Answer me, soldier! Give me your serial number and section commander."

A low energy alert popped up on my HUD, and I straightened from my crouch. My cannon retracted, and the Vehicon in front of me relaxed a little. I saluted the higher ranked Vehicon, acting the part of a remorseful trooper. "My apologies, sir. You surprised me."

The Vehicon nodded and lowered his weapon, but thankfully, he didn't drop Riley, who was staring at me with wide brown eyes. "Consider yourself lucky I didn't mistake you for an Autobot."

"Of course."

"Now serial number and section commander."

I tilted my head, keeping a close optic on Riley and forcing myself not to react when she grimaced and whimpered. "I don't have one, sir."

"Don't have…one?" The Vehicon froze. "Which one?"

"Neither."

"That's…not possible." The Vehicon's optic band flashed, and I could clearly imagine him attempting to compute what I had just said. A Vehicon without a serial number or commander? Impossible! "This is no time for jokes, soldier!"

"I'm sorry, sir." I pointed towards Riley, who was looking a little sick now after being flung around so much. "Is that a human?"

It took the Vehicon a moment to register my question before he looked down at Riley. "Uh, yeah. I found it wandering around the mine."

"Let me take care of it, sir." I stepped closer and held my hand out. His confusion would have been amusing had he not been squeezing my human to death. "You were the only one assigned to this mine, right? You must be a busy mech then. Much too busy to worry about a tiny human."

The Vehicon stared at me, and for a moment, I was worried that he wouldn't fall for it or had noticed that I wasn't exactly a generic Vehicon. It was dark enough for my coloring to look normal…I hoped. "And what would happen if the higher-ups learned you had shirked your duties for a tiny human?"

That seemed to jolt him out of his stupor, and he dumped Riley into my outstretched hand. "Yeah, you're right. I'll…finish my rounds. What was your serial number again?"

I gently gripped Riley against my chassis, and she immediately clung to my armor. "I don't have one. My name is Jeffrey. And Soundwave is a fairy from the land of candy and sparkles."

The Vehicon stared at me, completely frozen in place. After a long moment, I reached out with my free hand and shoved the locked frame backwards. Riley jumped at the loud crash it made when it connected with the ground. She sniffed. "What did you do?"

"Some Vehicons have really powerful logic centers. It was a glitch in one of the batches that Shockwave later fixed. Stuff that doesn't make sense just…doesn't compute."

Riley sniffed again, and I held her close as I stepped over the fallen Vehicon. "I thought he was you."

"You wouldn't have thought that if you had stayed close like I told you to."

Riley was completely quiet after that, and I started rubbing her trembling back.


	18. Ocean

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Eighteen

Ocean

* * *

It was hard to admit that I was starting to worry about Riley. Her first encounter with another Vehicon hadn't been the best, but what other way would it have happened? Vehicons don't even care for their own lot—they most definitely didn't care for stray humans.

At first, I had been worried that she had been hurt worse than I had originally thought. She hadn't complained on the way back (in fact, she hadn't spoken much at all), but I noticed that every time she moved, she had winced. From pain or general discomfort, she wouldn't say.

It was after we got back to the house and everything had somewhat settled down that I started to really worry. I figured she just wanted to spend more time with her dad since he seemed to be working a lot more. I watched them leave in his truck every morning and get back really late. Certainly too late for her dad to allow her to hang out in the garage with her car.

Then I started realizing that it wasn't necessarily just to spend time with him. Riley was just flat out _avoiding_ me. She had actually argued all the reasons she needed her dad to drive her to the store instead of driving herself. Here I was, sitting in my garage day and night, worrying about her, and there she was inadvertently saying to my face that she didn't wanna be around me.

That stung a little. Right in the spark.

So, here I was, left pouting to a cat on the top of my roof while it played with its dinner. Go figure. "She's acting like I'm a completely different person now! Like I didn't just save her from being squished. Where's the appreciation for that, huh?"

I groaned as a tuft of fur landed on the side of visor and glared back at my fur ball licking its jaw. "Hey! Watch where you throw around food. You act like you're some kind of animal."

The cat stared back at me with half-lidded eyes—_"No duh, you dolt."_—before going back to licking its paw. Is this the point of insanity I've heard there is no return from? Talking to animals and then making up responses from them?

I vented and leaned against the side of the garage, flicking a finger at the trashcan beside me. "She just acts like _I'm _the one that tried to kill her, not some brainwashed Vehi—"

I cut myself off with a jolt. "Like I'm the Vehicon that did it! It's because we look the same. She's just having a hard time differentiating, which I guess for a human who was nearly killed makes sense. At least I think that's what Dr. Phil would say. Now I just have to show her that I'm not like that."

My cat growled when I suddenly jumped up, and I quickly poked it in farewell before transforming and speeding down the driveway.

* * *

There was only one other time I felt as I proud as I did at this very moment, which is kind of sad, but considering I only started feeling anything a couple of months it's a pretty good accomplishment. With two steps I was standing outside Riley's bedroom window on the second floor, and I lightly tapped the glass.

I tried not to think too much about it when I saw her nearly jump off her bed at the sound. She stared at me with wide brown eyes and remained completely frozen for a long moment. I tapped the glass again, and she began to move.

Riley opened her window enough to hear me. "I've got something for you."

She hesitated. "What?"

"You've gotta come see!" I held my hand just below the windowsill. "Come on."

"I think I'll take the stairs."

"Those take too long! Just trust me."

Riley blinked and nibbled her bottom lip before opening the window more. I stayed perfectly still while she slowly crawled into my hand and held her close to my chest to ensure she wouldn't fall. I may have exaggerated my slow steps a little too much because Riley slapped one of my fingers. "You're moving at the speed of a snail!"

I released a hard vent, one that made Riley squeal when the air nearly knocked her over. "Just making sure."

Riley stared up at me with blank eyes, and I took the last step I needed to reach the fence. I held her over the neighbor's backyard. "Surprise!"

Riley stared down at the patio furniture I had moved around and the empty pool. "Wow, Jeffrey. You got me the neighbor's pool; I'm so shocked."

I dramatically placed my empty hand over my spark. "Ooh! Your sarcasm—it hurts. But there's more to it. See?"

I held her close to the water and nudged her towards it. Riley hesitated, looking up at me and then back in the water, before she leaned down towards the surface. She hadn't even touched it before she jerked back. "Ew! What's that smell?"

"Salt." I held her closer and splashed the water. "You were saying how you wanted to visit the ocean during the summer, and the summer is almost done. So, I made you a mini-ocean because they're not using it right now anyway. And I thought it would you feel better after...the other day."

Riley tensed in my hand and tilted her head back up to stare at me. "Jeffrey…I have to ask something."

"'Kay."

"Were you like…that? You know, before we met?"

"Yes."

Riley jumped and stared at me like she hadn't expected an honest answer. I vented and held her close. "That's the way we're shown to act. It was that or be deactivated as a defect."

Riley's eyes grew wider before her expression turned fierce and determined. "I like you better this way."

"I do too."

Then I dropped her into the salty water with a hysterical squeal.


	19. Man

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Nineteen

Man

* * *

"Alright, let's get a look at you."

Well…this was a little awkward. Not having a human look at me. I've let Riley poke around my engine in an attempt to see just how much my vehicular mode mimicked human cars, which I thought she would have already known considering she practically put me back together. But it was a completely different thing to have her dad jacking me up in his garage to slide under me.

Very, very awkward.

I tried not to flinch as he began poking around. Why did Riley leave me here? Is this revenge for dropping her in the ocean? Is it because I had complained one too many times about her choice of music? Maybe because I had quoted old Westerns one too many times in the past two days? It's not my fault her dad got a free month of Western movies on the TV.

I nearly jumped when the man began to unscrew something down there. He grunted. "Jeez! When was the last time this girl changed your oil? I thought she said she would take care of all of this stuff."

Change my oil? What the heck is that supposed to mean?

"I've gotta lot of confidence in that girl's skill. Heck, she's been changing sparkplugs since she was six! But sometimes she can get so forgetful." He chuckled, and I almost had the urge to rev my engine. "One time that girl just near forgot her own pants!"

I'm starting to think that Riley was telling the truth—insanity really _does_ run in her family. What other explanation could there be for their talking to cars?

"But that girl's gotta good head on her shoulders—forgetful or not. Gotta say though, I was starting to get a little worried about her for a while there. All she wanted to do was come hang out around here. Now I don't have a problem with her being around, but even as proud as I am of her, a girl her age should be spending at least a little bit of time with kids her own age. I couldn't even remember the last time I heard her talk about her friends."

I probably would've forgotten he was underneath me had he not tapped against whatever he had unscrewed down there. I was going to have to do some research about human cars later…

"We were going through a hard time 'round then. Guess working in the shop with me was the only thing that made her happy. She certainly perked up when she got a chance to work on you. Gotta admit, she did a pretty good job too even if she doesn't remember to change your oil every now and then. She must of started hanging out with some new people too because she wasn't around the garage much after you got fixed, and she started talking non-stop about this Jeffrey guy. She freaked when I asked if that was her boyfriend, but it's fun to tease her every once in a while about her first real crush. But he's just a friend, which is fine by me. She needs a good friend, and I could use a few more years of not needing to run off boys. I just hope it doesn't mess her up if I gotta take that—"

"Dad!"

I jumped at the sudden shriek, but it went unnoticed as Riley's dad hit something against my undercarriage. Riley sprinted across the garage, dumping the two cups she had appeared with on the worktable beside us. She peeked under at her dad. "What are you doing? I told you I'd take care of all of that!"

"I'm just being a good dad and making sure you don't break down on the side of the road." He slid out from under me and sat up, rubbing his forehead. Riley walked around to stand in front of him, hands on her hips and a familiar scowl on her face. "And what have you been doing to this poor thing? I can't even get the oil to come out!"

Riley's face turned a shade of red that I have surprisingly never seen before. Her color changing never ceases to amaze me. "That's…that's because I emptied it out before I left! You made me go get your stupid coffee before I could finish changing the oil."

"Is that so?"

"Yes!" Riley pushed her dad to the side, and he chuckled when he barely budged. "Now go fix some other car and let me deal with mine!"

"Fine, fine." Her dad stood up, and Riley immediately fell onto the board he had been using. She pushed herself underneath me, and I could hear her curse under her breath (Cybertronian curses too; I feel like I've thoroughly corrupted her vocabulary). Someone shouted his name from across the garage, and he left us with a wave. "You need anything you come and get me."

I waited until he was talking with the man who had called him and rolled down my windows. "Don't leave me alone with your dad again."

"Trust me, I won't." Riley grunted, and I wanted to move so badly when she retightened whatever her dad had loosened. "We're just lucky that some of these parts are apparently all for show."

My engine gave a low hum. "So…you've got a crush on me?"

"Oh my—did he seriously just spend the last ten minutes talking about that?"

"I might have a crush on you too."

"Just shut up, slagger."


	20. Pet

**AN: **I'm so sorry for missing yesterday (or Friday...I don't think it was yesterday anymore...)! Mid-terms are next week, and things getting a little crazy. I'll try not to miss another day until this is complete, but for now, enjoy a double update (plus one more later today (Sunday)):3

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty

Pet

* * *

"Alright, if you're keeping that thing, then we're gonna have to establish some ground rules."

I sat in my vehicular mode, headlights outlining Riley where she stood in the opening of the garage. She stared at the center of my hood with a frown. "More rules? There's nothing but rules around here!"

"Yeah, living with a transforming robot will do that. How else are we supposed to ensure you stay hidden?"

"Well, I've been here for seven and a half months and I haven't been found yet."

"Sure, you haven't been found yet, but you _have_ freaked out four times because you thought that—what's the name?—Noisemaker or something. You thought his birdy thing was flying over us and nearly caused a five car pileup in the center of town. And what about that 'suspicious' yellow car incident?"

I sat in silence. "Yeah, well…at least I'm not a _girl_."

"Have you finally used up all your good comebacks?"

"No…I'm just saving them for a better occasion." I flicked on my brights and snickered when Riley flinched back, hand reaching up to cover her squinting eyes. "And what does that have to do with this?"

"Absolutely nothing. But my dad owns this garage."

"Then I'll just stay outside."

"He also pays your insurance."

"And why should I care about that?"

"His name is on your care title, which means he owns you."

"Oh, no. A piece of paper now dictates my freedom. Whatever shall I do?"

Riley stomped her foot, and I snickered even more. "Jeffrey! If that thing is gonna be your pet, then we need to make sure that if it attacks me, I won't get rabies and die!"

My engine thrummed, and the cat curled on top of me sat up long enough to glare at my windshield before unfurling to lazily stretch across my hood. "It's not a _pet_. I just have to keep it happy to make sure it eats the squirrels and birds."

"We haven't had birds or squirrels living in this backyard for weeks! In fact, we haven't had mice, lizards, opossums, raccoons, snakes, or grasshoppers either. That thing has completely destroyed our backyard ecosystem!"

"I'm getting this vibe of jealousy right now." I gently rocked back and forth, and Furball the Squirrel Annihilator yawned, showing its yellowed fangs. "Are you jealous of a kitty? I'll let you nap on my hood when you get cold if you eat the pesky rodents too."

Riley growled and turned away on the heel of her foot. I snickered as she stomped away and settled back down, engine humming to provide a warm surface for Furball to nap on.


	21. Loneliness

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty One

Loneliness

* * *

I sighed and poked at the handheld game system I had long claimed as my own. A growl from the corner of my dark garage prompted me to reach out and gently scratch between Furball's shoulders. Sounds of hysterical laughter and shouting voices came from outside, and Furball remained tense and hissed every time the side of the garage was hit. I kept scratching with one hand while the other restarted the game level.

Being stuck in my cozy garage while a party went on outside wasn't exactly the most joyful thing to endure. Apparently, Riley had a bigger family than just her dad. _A lot_ bigger. And the celebration of the day one was created was an ordeal that brought them all together: from the old and wrinkling to the munchkins I had threatened to squish the next time they touched me with their slimy hands.

There was another bang against the wall, and someone shouted, "Goal!" Another round of laughter and applause began. I stared at the wall until Furball hissed, and I began to scratch him again.

I didn't have anything against Riley wanting to spend time with her family. She had told me earlier that her dad was going all out to celebrate her "sweet sixteen" in the "right way." She hadn't looked very impressed, but she had allowed herself to be swept away by the first group that showed up.

I don't think I ever realized how big a human family could be until I started seeing all the humans show up. During the first hour or so, Riley had managed to sneak away every once in a while to point out who was who: grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, something called a cousin-in-law, and then some being four or five times removed. Didn't really make a lot of sense to me, but what did I really know about humans other than they make very addictive games?

I looked up from my game when the noise from outside suddenly stopped. Furball curled up under my hand, probably happy that the commotion had finally stopped, when it started again. This time, they were somewhat synchronized as they sang together, and they cheered together after the song had ended. I listened to the strange festivities and went back to my game.

But I couldn't stop myself from looking up again when there was more laughter. Family wasn't something I knew anything about before waking up in that garage with Riley. There were hundreds of Vehicons in the Decepticon army, but compared to how I had seen humans interact with each, a hundred drones together may as well have been one drone surrounded by ninety-nine reflections of himself.

No distinguishing personality; no personal interaction. Receive an order and do it; you don't, you die—that was everything the life of a drone consisted of. Even the "close knit" groups hadn't been as tied together as human families seemed to be.

I jolted when the garage creaked open. Furball hissed and ran beneath the table at the back of the garage, growling at Riley when she ducked under the gap and quickly slid the door back down. I sat up and activated my headlights so it wasn't dark. Riley blinked and held up the plate of colorful substance she had brought with her. "I come with cake."

"Is it like ice cream?"

"But not better than chocolate."

"Nothing's better than chocolate."

Riley laughed and walked over to sit against my leg. I leaned back against the wall. "So, how's it been going?"

"Crazy." Riley took a bite of her cake, smearing blue on the corner of her mouth. "I like seeing the rest of my family every once in a while, but if you think me and my dad are crazy for talking to cars, you haven't seen nothing until you meet them. Especially when they're all together."

I tapped my fingers against the ground, and Furball hissed at me. I poked him and got a scratch for my effort. "Seems pretty festive."

"Yeah. You should've seen my cousin's sweet sixteen last year. Completely Cirque du Soleil themed."

"I'll pretend to know what that means." We listened to the party that continued outside. "Why aren't you out there?"

"I didn't want to leave you out." Riley held up what was left of her cake. "I know you've gotta stay in here for obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean you can't celebrate with me."

Riley put her plate down and reached into her pocket. She flung little pieces of colorful paper in the air and reached up to grab a thing that was tucked behind her ear. Furball growled at the strange sound it emitted when Riley blew into it. "Happy Birthday! Now we eat cake."

"But I can't eat cake."

"Then you get to watch me eat cake."

"Woo hoo."

Riley laughed, and she went on eating her cake without a comment about her family continuing outside. I couldn't bring myself to feel bad that she was missing it either.


	22. America

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty Two

America

* * *

"And _why_ are we standing out in the middle of nowhere again?"

Riley reached out and smacked her hand against my visor, leaving a smudge when she purposely dragged it across the tinted glass. "Stop complaining! This is the best seat in the house and you know it. Remember New Years?"

I shrugged my shoulders, trying not to laugh when Riley squealed and grabbed the side of my helm. "Why do you humans have so many holidays that blow up things? Can't we just have another holiday that's all about love and that kind of slag?"

"Like you don't enjoy blowing things up," Riley snapped back. She kept a firmer grip on my helm while she resettled on my shoulder. "You were trying to get me to order a dozen packs of fireworks after we got done the first time!"

"I will admit that their color had fascinated me." I stared towards the smudge on the horizon that marked the town we lived in. "Why aren't you doing this with your dad? I thought you two spent all the important holidays together."

"He said he had to stay home and balance the checkbook. You know, boring old adult stuff." Riley checked the chronometer on her wrist, and I unconsciously did the same. "It's almost time! They always set them off at the same time every year."

We continued to stare straight ahead. "So, what's this thing all about?"

Riley kicked her legs out in a fidgeting manner. "Mostly tea. My history teachers always seem to want to emphasis how much the first colonials enjoyed their tea. They liked it so much, they got super mad when the British jacked up the price without letting them have any say in it. There was entire war over it."

"Mine had an entire war over Energon." I shifted my head until I could see Riley out of the corner of my optics. "That's kinda like tea."

"Wow. Who knew our histories were so alike?"

"It's kinda scary."

"A little."

I turned back to the town as a faint whistling filled the air. I doubt Riley could hear it with her stunted audials, but she leaned forward with a grin at the sight of the first burst of blue light followed by a quick succession of red and white.


	23. Toy

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty Three

Toy

* * *

"Riley!"

Riley stopped everything, and I growled. No—this was wash time. No one stopped wash time when I still had suds trailing down my windshield. There was definitely no dropping a sponge on my hood and then just leaving it there.

Apparently, I needed to have a little chat with my human about that because she did exactly what she wasn't supposed to do to go greet the neighbor kid and his mutt of stupidity. I only felt a little better when the mutt in question, which had started growling the moment the kid had walked up with it, quickly tucked its tail between its legs and hid behind the smaller kid when it spotted Furball curled up on the steps behind me.

"What's up, Logan?"

The little kid instantly straightened, and his smile stretched from ear to ear. Now that I knew what a crush was (which just made it all the better anytime I brought it up with Riley), I could totally tell this kid was doing some major crushing on Riley. It totally explained why he would randomly pop in from time to time, mostly when Riley was washing me.

Which is why this "Logan" did not appeal to me, just like spots from dried soap suds don't appeal to me.

"I was just taking Spot for a walk!" That's another thing: the kid's stupid. Who names their mutt "Spot" when it doesn't have one spot on it? "Mom says I need to learn more about taking care of him."

"That's awesome! I was just giving Jeffrey here his bath for the week." Yes—now stop talking to the kid and get over here and finish what you started. These soap suds aren't gonna rinse themselves. "He turns into a diva when he doesn't get his fresh wax."

The kid laughed loudly. "You make it sound like he's a person."

"As much of a person as Spot."

…oh, no she did _not_. She did not just compare me to a slobbering mass of yellow fur. Furball will be talking to her curtains later, and then paying a personal visit to those shoes she loved so much.

After another round of laughter from the kid, he wrapped the mutt's leash around his wrist and pulled out the toy he had tucked under his other arm. "Look at what I made! Well, dad helped a little, but I picked it out and painted it all by myself."

Riley stepped into my field of vision before I got a good look at the thing, and I wanted to vent at the exaggerated praise she gave him. Way to inflate the kid's crush, Riley; now we'll never get rid of him. "This is so cool, Logan! It looks just like Jeffrey."

Excuse me?

Riley bent down and took the controller from kid's eager hand. A little motor buzzed, and a toy car whipped around her foot and headed towards me. I just stared at it when it crashed into my front tire. Was this some kind of joke?

"Jeffrey just looks _so_ cool, and I thought it would be even _cooler_ to have a mini-Jeffrey. You can have it if you want it."

"Mini-Jeffrey" continued to drive into my tire while Riley turned around to give the kid a side hug. "That's sweet, but I can't take your toy. And I have a big Jeffrey."

And big Jeffrey trumped a tiny toy. It wasn't even the right shade of my glorious green. Now get back over here and wash off these suds.


	24. Forever

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty Four

Forever

* * *

I think Furball's sick. All it did was curl up on my hood and weakly growl at anything that moved without its permission. It could be that Riley was right—that Furball had eaten everything in the yard and just had nothing else to do now—but what do I know about cats? I still barely knew anything about humans, and Riley was too busy with her dad lately to do more than say she was busy.

Furball stirred for a moment and glared outside the garage into the darkening night, and I hated how I automatically honed my weak sensors on the tiny body. I could hear that its breathing had become a little raspier than usual, and its heartbeat softly pounded against my hood in an erratic pattern.

This wasn't fair. Furball hadn't even been around for that long and its little organic frame was already giving out. Were all organics like this? Could one cold night seriously compromise an organic's systems this badly? Is that why Riley starts sniffling the day after we do movie nights?

I knew organic frames were fragile to the touch, but I didn't know they were _this_ fragile. My engine hummed a little louder as I pushed it to produce a little more heat. Maybe that would make Furball a little more comfortable…

The backdoor to the house squeaked open and banged shut a few seconds after that. Riley was already frowning when she stepped into my field of vision, and her frown deepened when she spotted us. Furball didn't even growl when Riley carefully scratched behind its ears. "What's up with Catzilla?"

"It's just a little cold," I answered. I thought I kept my voice as neutral as possible, but Riley climbed up on my hood to sit beside Furball. The cat barely blinked when Riley picked it up and put it in her lap. "Do cats get sick like humans do?"

"Well, sure. All animals get sick from time to time." Furball finally growled a little when Riley attempted to wrap her arms around it. At least it wans't being _completely _complacent. "He seems pretty old though, so it might just be age catching up with him."

"I still think it's just the cold." My engine continued to rumble. "Weather is weird on this planet. One minute it's hot enough to melt the tires right of you, and then the next you're freezing your tailpipe off."

Riley hummed and started petting Furball from head to tail. "The universe is weird."

"You're weird." Riley didn't laugh like I had expected her to. "What's wrong with you now?"

"Dad…" Riley trailed off, her hand going still on Furball's back. The cat grumbled and wiggled out of her arms to curl up on my hood again. "Dad's selling the garage."

"Am I being kicked out?" Riley glared at me before I realized what she was talking about. "Oh! You mean the repair shop garage. Why is he doing that? I thought he liked fixing human cars."

"He does." Riley kicked her legs out and clenched her hands into fists. "He's just…I don't know! He says he's barely making enough money to keep the place going, and some of the guys are already moving on to other stuff, and he found a cheaper place in another town, and you know, why the heck not just jump a sinking ship and start over somewhere new. Makes total sense."

"You sound angry."

"Of course I'm angry!" Riley brought her fist down on my hood with a loud bang. It didn't hurt, but it sure spurred Furball to finally move, jumping off my hood with a hiss and huddling underneath me. At least I knew it wasn't fatally ill now. "He just totally decided to do this without telling me at all!"

"So? He's hasn't told you stuff before; I thought that was what parents did."

Riley twisted around on my hood to glare at tinted windshield. "What kind of friend are you? You should at least be a little sympathetic! I just learned that I'm not spending my junior year of high school in a place I'm familiar with, and I'm gonna be moving out of the house that I've lived in my entire life just to go halfway across the state because apparently finding a job around here is impossible."

"I was left for dead in the middle of nowhere." Riley's mouth snapped shut, and her eyes slightly widened. "I got picked up by a human man and brought back to his place for a little human girl to repair me, which was more painful than helpful half the time. Then I had to dig inside my own chest to remove a tracker so I could actually come back and be less unhappy than I was before. So, I'm sorry if hearing you won't be spending the rest of your time in school surrounded by people you rarely even socialize with doesn't spawn sympathy or that you're having to move a relatively short distance for your dad to find a way to support both of you. You can't stay in one place forever, Riley."

My engine slowed to a soft hum, and Riley's body slumped before she laid back on my roof and windshield. "I don't wanna move."

"I didn't either. But it put me in a better place." I waited for Riley to respond, and when she didn't, I rumbled my engine. "She's not coming back."

"Shut up."

"You can pretend you don't care, but I heard you talking to one of your grandmas on your birthday. She got remarried and everything."

Riley growled and jumped off my hood. She spun around to kick me before she stomped back towards the house, and I settled down to listen to the door slam shut. Furball crawled back our and jumped on my hood again, and I started building back up the heat I had lost by slowing my engine.


	25. Space

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty Five

Space

* * *

Riley was mad at me.

And not the kind of angry she got when I tried to get her attention through her window while she was changing clothes (I learned a long time ago that humans were apparently very sensitive when they didn't have their clothes on), or even the hissy angry when I let Furball in the house to sleep on her bed. This was full out I'm-seeking-vengeance-on-you anger.

Maybe I should have pretended to be more sympathetic about this whole moving thing…

A water balloon burst on my windshield, and I forced myself not to move. Furball hissed when a drop of water landed beside it, and Riley's dad looked up from the tools he had been packing. "Where did that thing come from again?"

"You tell me; you're the one that found the pile of scrap metal."

Another water balloon landed in the center of my hood, and I wanted to swipe the cold water off my windshield so badly. Her dad shook his head when a balloon missed me and burst beside his feet. "I meant the cat, not the car that's apparently on you bad side now."

"It showed up one day." Another balloon, and oh great! It was one that had the sticky cleanser in it. The kind I hate and Riley knows I hate. Yay. "It killed all the squirrels."

"Wondered where those things went off to. You seen my power drill around here?"

"Nope." Wax—the balloon was wax this time. Wax was only good _after_ the car wash. And with a buffer. "What do you think about a pink muscle car?"

"Neon or pastel?"

Another water balloon landed, and it did not mix well with the wax. "I was thinking pastel. Neon would still be cool."

Please don't let there be paint in one of those balloons. She still had a whole bucket full of them.

Her dad chuckled and picked up the box he had filled. Furball scampered under the table as soon as he cleared it and hissed when another water balloon missed. Good for me—bad for the cat. "How much you got left to pack?"

"When do we have to leave?"

He sighed. "A week."

"Then everything until the day before."

He shook his head and headed to the house. The moment he was in the door, Riley picked up the bucket and ran towards me. I tensed when a dozen or so balloons rained down on me, the contents varying from soap to wax. Riley tossed the bucket aside and glared down at my hood. "You deserved that."

"If you say so."

Riley frowned. "It doesn't make me feel better."

"If it makes you feel better, it doesn't make me feel better either."

"Don't try to make me laugh when I'm still mad at you."

"I'm not." I hummed my engine, and Furball took that as a sign to jump on my hood and enjoy the heat. It immediately growled and jumped back off, shaking all its limbs to get rid of nasty concoction it had landed in. "Unless it's working and we can get past this quicker."

"I'm still mad." Riley huffed and kicked at a balloon that hadn't popped when it fell. "This is stupid."

"You said it."

"I think I just need a little space. A lot of stuff is happening all at once, and nerves on top of anger doesn't really help."

"Are you…are you breaking up with me?"

Riley blankly stared at me, and I hummed my engine a little louder. She kicked my front bumper. "I told you not to make me laugh."

"I thought it was an appropriate question!"

A smile finally appeared on her face before she forced herself to scowl. Riley picked up the balloon she had kicked and popped it against my hood, adding more wax to the mess she had made. "I'm going to start packing."

"Have fun with that." I waited until she was halfway across the yard before honking. "Hey! You're not planning on letting this stuff just sit here, right?"

She took one glance at me before slowly climbing up the steps of the porch, her eyes still on me. My engine roared. "Riley! If I transform, all of this is going to get stuck in my seams. Riley!"

Furball hissed as the door slammed shut, and I grumbled along with it.


	26. Heaven

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty Six

Heaven

* * *

"Alright Furball." I pinched the thin rope between my fingers and held it in front of the cat's face. It stared at the rope with half-lidded eyes. "Here's the string. You see the string? Go get the string!"

Furball's head slowly turned to follow the rope across the garage. It yawned when it smacked against the floor, and I vented. "Furball, you've gotta work with me here. You're getting old, and if you don't stay active you'll frame will give out faster. Now go get the string."

The cat completely ignored me and curled up on the wad of towels it used when my hood was unavailable. I groaned and reached for the rope to entice it again. "Furball, I have a string—look at my wonderful string! You can't have it."

One eyelid lazily lifted when I whistled, and I waved the rope in front of Furball's nose. "You know you want it though. You always want things you can't have."

Furball glared at me before twisting around to face the wall. I dangled the rope right above its head, and it gave a low growl when the tip of the rope barely brushed against its fur. I finally threw the rope aside when it became apparent that Furball wasn't going to respond beyond that. "Fine, be that way. I don't even know why I'm helping. Riley says cats don't live long anyway, so you're gonna die long before I do. Go to kitty heaven, or wherever it was she said you'd go."

I carefully twisted around in my small garage and leaned against the wall next to Furball, staring at the empty that had once held various human tools. "None of you organics have long lifespans. Certainly not as long as a Cybertronians can be. There could be thousands of generations of one organic family unit, and that won't even add up to half of my lifespan. My lifespan now at least. Did I ever tell you about the average lifespan of a Vehicon?"

Furball peeked over the towel it had buried its head in to glare at me and purred when my finger came down to scratch its head. "Yeah, I guess I hadn't reached that point of self-exile to divulge my life story to a cat. I had Riley for that…sorta.

"I haven't told her even half the things I endured as a Vehicon though. Sure, I told her some things, like not being treated the best or how we never had close relationships like humans do. I've made it no secret that some of the things she going through now can't really compare to what I've gone through. But I've tried to keep the more gruesome details from her. I mean, how could I burst that innocent bubble she can still live in by telling her how many Autobots I've offlined. Or tell her just how cruel Decepticon life can be. She still looks at me funny after we encountered that other Vehicon, and I know that if she really knew the extent of what I did—what I could still do—she'd regret repairing me. I put her and her dad in danger just by being online."

I stopped scratching when I realized Furball had drifted to sleep and vented. "You're not a very good conversation companion. But at least your breathing doesn't sound as bad as it did the other night. Maybe you'll last long enough to move to the new place with us. I could always use a squirrel killer like you."

I gave Furball a final poke, barely disturbing it from its sleep, before I pulled up my To Do List on my HUD. There were only three days left until Riley's dad had planned on moving, and I had a few things that needed to be done before then.

Like plan the perfect revenge for Riley's car wash balloons.


	27. Red

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty Seven

Red

* * *

I had to wait for the opportune moment to strike. I could hear my target coming closer, and I stilled myself to be sure I wouldn't be found. This was too crucial a situation to jump the gun or get caught too early.

A warning flashed on my HUD, and I cursed at the low Energon warning. I knew I needed to find a few crystals before we started this trip, but I didn't realize I was that low. This just made everything a little more complicated…

Footsteps paused outside my hiding place, and I tensed. The moment they started again, I knew this was the moment I had been waiting for. I tapped the container and peeked over the ledge to watch it role down the sloped roof. It vanished, and I ducked when a shriek filled the yard. I forced myself to stay quiet as Riley's dad came running out of the house. "What? What happened?"

Riley growled, and I couldn't help but let a snicker escape. I wish I had a visual of my perfect revenge because it must have been good from the way Riley's dad loudly snorted. "Girl, how did you get a bucket of red paint all over you?"

"Shut up!" I ducked my head and closed my vents to keep myself from laughing. I really wished I could see Riley covered in the red paint I had found next to the pile of trash her dad had made when packing up the garage. But that would mean revealing myself to her dad, and I doubt he was ready to know his daughter had been riding around in a transforming car. "Just…shut up!"

The door slammed shut a few seconds later and then closed in a calmer manner a few seconds after that. I stood up from my crouch behind the garage and waited until Riley stomped into her room on the second floor. My visor brightened when she glanced out her window, and I waved. I couldn't hear her through the window, but I could imagine the colorful curses she snapped at me from her body language: her face a nasty snarl and fists shaking at the window.

I chuckled when she vanished from my sight and transformed into my alternative mode. It was late enough not to alert her dad that I was missing from the garage, and Riley certainly wouldn't be checking on me anytime soon. So, off to the mine I go—my last trip for Energon in this area.

I was actually a little worried about where I would find Energon in the new place.


	28. West

**AN: **The final chapter! \^o^/

* * *

A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Twenty Eight

West

* * *

"To whomever shall inhabit my house." Rile paused, her primitive pen hovering over her primitive data-pad. I tilted my head down at her and patiently waited. "I leave you this note to warn you—"

"That sounds a little threatening."

"Good. I leave this note to warn you of the terrible things that will befall you least you heed this warning."

"Ooh! Taking a cryptic route, huh? Interesting."

"Shut up. You're making me forget my warnings." Riley poked out her lips and tapped the pen against her bottom lip. "My warning is thus: to the poor soul who inhabits the far left room on the second floor, you must leave a daily offering of Rainbow Rocks flavored sherbet on the windowsill. If this is not done, the spirits from the Paiute burial ground outside of town will sneak in at night and kidnap you."

"Ah. The Paiute spirits. I heard they kidnapped little Timmy over the fence."

"You know his name is Logan, and I wish they had taken you instead."

"You know you love me."

"_Furthermore_." I snickered when Riley slammed her pen onto the paper. "If you do not store enough things in the attic, our resident troll will sneak down to the bottom floors at night and steal mis—how do you spell miscellaneous?"

"M-I-S-C-E-L-L-"

"Slow down!"

"A-N-E-O-U-S." I reached down to poke the paper, leaving a tiny pinprick hole behind. "You mixed up the e and o."

"Close enough! He will steal miscellaneous items from the house. Note that these items may include teeth, finger and toenails, and on occasion whole limbs."

"This is getting gruesome." I hunkered down closer to the table to read Riley's terrible handwriting. "I like it."

"Finally, the bottom step on the stairs squeaks. So, watch for that, or the Bumpersnatch living in the closet will eat you for disturbing his sleep."

"What's a Bumpersnatch?"

"I have no idea. Sincerely, the former inhabitant who died in the upstairs bedroom on the right side. P.S. I still haunt my room and only accept roomies who do not snore and leave interesting things on the floor for me to throw across the room when I please." Riley finished with a wild flourish and stood back from the table. "Done!"

"They'll _totally_ thank you for the heads up."

"Just doing my good deed for the month." Riley carefully tore the page from the data-pad and folded it into a smaller square. "Got all your things ready?"

I nodded and tapped my chest. "Everything's subspaced and Energon levels are decent. Good enough for a little road trip."

"Good. I'll go see if my dad's ready and put this note up." Riley turned towards the garage's side door, but she paused short of opening it. "Are you going with us because you want to?"

"Yeah. Why would you ask?"

Riley shrugged. "Just making sure. You don't have to leave if you don't want to. I could leave the garage open."

"And pretend I ran away? I doubt your dad would buy that story." I chuckled but stopped when Riley glared at me. "Oh, you're being serious."

Riley stomped her foot. "Of course I am! You're a full grown robot who's been forced to live in a tiny garage, watch soaps, and turn into a cat lady for the past year. Why wouldn't you want to leave the moment you could?"

"Because I don't want to?" I vented when Riley continued to glare at me, but her slumped shoulders and pouting lips told me it wasn't an angry glare. "Seriously. I've…thought about it before. But I don't wanna leave. I like it here. I like being friends with you. So, if you're breaking up with me, I'm gonna turn bad robot and kidnap you."

Riley smiled and jogged back towards me to smack my leg armor. "Aw! Do you have a crush on me, Jeffy?"

"I knew you were saving that for the right moment."

She winked up at me with a grin and skipped back towards the door. "I'll be back in a bit. Probably have to reassure dad a few more times that I can drive the whole trip behind the moving truck, but that shouldn't take long."

"Well, I'll be right here." I glanced around the empty garage before voicing a noise that made Riley pause at the door. "I don't think I've asked before, but where exactly are we going?"

Riley shrugged. "Somewhere on the west border of the state. I think dad said it was a town called Jasper or something."

I nodded, tapping my fingers against the floor as Riley left. Jasper…that name sounded familiar…

A low meow caught my attention, and Furball slinked in through the cracked door to swat at my fingers. I let it have a little fun before quickly trapping it between cupped hands. "Finally caught you! Now Furball, don't growl like that. We need to get you ready to go."

Furball hissed, and I carefully picked it up before transforming, throwing the cat's tiny body into my cab. Big mistake. "Ow! No, bad kitty! Stop scratching the upholstery. This is for your own good. And don't you dare pee inside me."

* * *

**AN: **As it has been all month, it's been super fun to write the continuation of Jeff and Ry's adventures. Thanks to all of you guys who have been reading, faving/following, and reviewing through the month (and sorry I didn't have enough time to always respond to you guys ^^;). I'm hoping to be able to jump straight into the next story of Jeffrey the Drone, so be on the look out for that!

Until then, I hope you guys all enjoyed :D


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